Owl Prowl & More

I went on the DAS owl prowl last night at Indian Springs Metropark. It was a beautiful night for early March and it was amazing how many more stars you can see up there than at my house. We heard a pair of Great Horned Owls calling and Coyotes howling in the distance. Surprisingly we did not see or hear Eastern Screech or Barred Owls. I was especially surprised we didn't see Barred Owls as a pair of them followed our group for most of the time when I went on an owl prowl there in September. I have been pretty busy lately so I haven't been able to update this blog but I have been able to fit some birding in. On Friday I went to Heritage Park and took some pictures of this hawk.

I think that it is probably a Goshawk but don't feel comfortable ruling out a Cooper's. I posted a link to my photos on the umich birders group and Allen Chartier brought up the possibility that it might also be a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. Based on the flight style of the bird, however, I don't think this is likely as the hawk had a strong and direct flight like an accipiter.

My mom and I were in Cleveland last week and we were able to check out a few spots along Lake Erie. I found good assortments of birds at the Eastlake power plant and East 72nd Street fishing area in Cleveland. I had Common and Red-breasted Mergansers, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneyes, Lesser Scaup, and Great Black backed Gulls at both locations. I had an American Coot at the Eastlake power plant and I had Redheads, Greater Scaup and a Canvasback at E 72nd. I also found a Mourning dove nest at my hotel and also saw a Red-headed Woodpecker there. On the way back home we stopped at the Lotus Rd. pond where we had several Lesser Black-backed Gulls.